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NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — While the key sponsor and organizer of the annual Whaling City Festival, the New Bedford Police Union, said they won’t be able to hold the festival this year, another previous organizer says he hopes to make it happen anyway.
The New Bedford Police Union has sponsored the carnival for multiple years and had scheduled it this year for July 11-14 at Buttonwood Park.
The union cited several reasons for canceling the event in a posting Tuesday morning on Facebook, saying, “unforeseen circumstances” and a staffing shortage have impacted their ability to sponsor the event.
The union will be returning security deposits from vendors, according to union president Hank Turgeon.
But city resident Mike Sylvia, a fan of the festival who has played a role in organizing and volunteering for it for several years, said he hopes to resurrect the festival. Sylvia said he is working out the formalities with the city and is getting in touch with all the vendors.
Amid the original cancellation announcement and reasons cited by Turgeon, the mayor’s office and police chief announced “significant investments” in the police department, from buying 11 new police cruisers to upgrading radio equipment and facilities.
Mayor Jon Mitchell said staffing for the department is the same as it was last year and theorized that the festival is becoming a bargaining chip in contract negotiations.
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